English Phonetics and Phonology PDF

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English Phonetics and Phonology Nur Alifah Annisa Jumrah Hasanuddin University 1. Find minimal pairs for the largest number of English consonant phonemes you can, in initial, medial and final positions in the word. Which list is longest? Note cases where you encounter defective distributions. Answer...

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English Phonetics and Phonology Nur Alifah Annisa Jumrah Hasanuddin University 1. Find minimal pairs for the largest number of English consonant phonemes you can, in initial, medial and final positions in the word. Which list is longest? Note cases where you encounter defective distributions. Answer: Minimal pairs for the largest number of English consonant phonemes No Initial Medial Final 1 fat /f/ abe /b/ Bead /d/ 2 vat /v/ ape /p/ Beat /t/ 3 fate /f/ ladder /d/ Bird /d/ 4 pate /p/ latter /t/ Birth /θ/ 5 jet /dʒ/ Lamb /b/ 6 yet /j/ Lamp /p/ 7 sap /s/ Rice /s/ 8 zap /z/ Rise /z/ 9 my /m/ Tack /k/ 10 pie /p/ Tag /g/ 11 buy /b/ 12 tie /t/ 13 die /d/ 14 guy /g/ 15 lie /l/ 16 rye /r/ Based on the list above, the longest list of minimal pairs of English consonant phonemes is in initial position. Notes about defective distributions: Defective distribution is the distribution of a sound which is said to be defective when it does not occur in some environments where phonetically similar sound may occur. Defective distributions will involve initial [h] , final [ŋ] and final [r] as a speaker of a non-rhotic accent.

Initial [h]

hit , historical

The defective distribution of h is one of phonological effects which is sensitive to essentially the same set of conditions in English.

Final [ŋ]

sing , think

[ŋ] may occur only in the coda. The defectiveness of this follow from its historical development which [ŋ] is derived historically from a sequences of [ng] or [nk]. Initial clusters of nasal plus stop are not permissible in earlier English or today, the appropriate context for [ŋ] never arose word-initially.

Final [r]

card , car

In non-rhotic English, historical r weakens to a glide or zero in preconsonantal and wordor utterance-final positions. In non-rhotic systems, r is thus said to be licensed in onset but not in coda. In the other word, r is supported in syllable onset but excluded from coda. 2. The ‘liquid’ consonants namely /r/ and /l/, devoice in English after voiceless consonants, giving [pļeɪ] play, [t_eɪ] tray. (a) Of the allophones [ɹ],[],[l], and [ļ], which are in complementary distribution? Answer: Allophones [ɹ] and [l] are in complementary distribution. Both of them normally stands for voiced approximants but in word they represent as voiceless sounds (use one such diacritic that show as a small circle under a symbol of [ɹ] and [l]). (b) Which pairs of allophones would you assign to which phoneme, and how would you justify this decision? Answer: Pairs of allophones [ɹ] and[_] would assign to phoneme /r/ meanwhile [l] and [ļ] to phoneme /l/. Those are usual decision on the grounds of phonetic similarity. (c) Write the allophonic rule determining the distribution of voiced and devoiced liquids. Answer: A change in an allophone does not change the meaning of a word. Allophones are predicable ▪ This means that native speakers know (unconsciously) which allophones should be pronounced in which environment ▪ E.g. dark /l/ can only be at the end of the word and never be at the beginning of the word, vise versa for light /l/. Hence, allophones of one phoneme are in complementary distribution because one allophone never occurs in the environments in which the other occurs. Devoicing ▪ Not only /l/ but all approximants and liquids (l, r, j, w) are devoiced in the same environment as aspiration.

▪

Next, consider the rule that accounts for the devoicing /l, r, j, w/ after initial /p, t, k/. This rule stated with simple ways of describing these classes of sounds : +aspirated [+approximant] [–voiced] after [ ] +stop ▪ E.g. please vs peace [pļi:z] vs. [phi:s] ▪ Describing the syllabicity of /l/ by saying simply : [+lateral] [+syllabic] when at the end of a word and after another consonant. This rule summarizes the fact that /l/ is syllabic not only after stops and fricatives (as in paddle and wistle) but also after nasals (as in channel) . If /ɹ/ regard as a consonant, this rule would be invalidated in most of American English by words such as snarl . In classifying sounds for the purpose of these rule, /ɹ/ will regard as some kind of semivowel. Like the other central approximants, it classifies as [+vowel, –syllabic ]. On the other hand, /ɹ/ is like /l/ in most American English, that it, too, can be syllabic when it occurs at the end of a word and after a consonant, as in hammer and tailor. In “liquid” which is used simply as a cover term for the consonant /ɹ/ and /l/, it describes by a rule : [+liquid] [+syllabic] when at the end of a word and after a consonant. Stops are not released before another stop and optionally before a pause. ▪ E.g. active [æktɪv] 3. Choose a nursery rhyme or short poem. Transcribe it (that is, write it in IPA notation) as accurately as you can for your own accent, using V for vowels but giving as much detail on consonant allophones as you can. Answer: Short poem To Friends at Home – R.I. Stevenson To friend at home, the lone, the admired, the lost The gracious old, the lovely young, to May The fair, December the beloved, These from my blue horizon and green isles, These from this pinnacle of distances I, The unforgetful, dedicate. ...here are the transcription in IPA notation (*Using V for vowels)... [Tu:] [frənt] [et] [həʊm], [ðɛ] [loʊn], [ðɛ] [ætmaɪərt], [ðɛ] [loʊs] [CV] [CCVCC] [VC] [CVVC], [CV] [CVVC], [CV] [VCCVVCC], [CV] [CV] [ðɛ] [græʒɪəs] [ɔl], [ðɛ] [lʌfli:] [jɑŋ], [tu:] [Meɪ] [CV] [CCVCVC] [VC], [VC] [CV] [CVCCV] [CVC] [CV] [CV] [ðɛ [fɛər], [Dɪʒəmbe:] [ðɛ] [bɪlʌft], [CV] [CVC], [CVCVCCV] [CV] [CVCVCC] [ði:z] [frɔm] [maɪ] [blu:] [hɔri:zɔn] [en] [gri:n] [isəls],

[CVC] [CCVC] [VC] [CCV] [CVCVCVC] [VC] [CCVC] [VCVCC] [ði:z] [frɔm] [ðis] [phinəkəl] [of] [distəsis] [aɪ], [CVC] [CCVC] [CVC] [CVCVCVC] [VC] [CVCCVCVC] [VV] [ðɛ] [ɑnfɔrgətful], [dədɪkəɪt]. [CV] [VCCVCCVCCVC], [CVCVCVC]. Consonant Phonemes /t/ /f/ /r/ /n/ /ð/ /l/ /m/ /g/ /ʒ/ /s/ /j/ /ŋ/ /d/ /h/ /z/ /p/ /k/

Allophones in Short Poem

Place of Articulation

to, at, friend, admired, beloved, distances, unforgetful

Alveolar plosive

friend, fair, from, of, unforgetful friend, admired, gracious, fair, from, unforgetful lone, horizon, green, pinnacle, distances, unforgetful the, these, this lone, lost, old, lovely, beloved, blue, isles, pinnacle home, admired, May, December, from, my gracious, green, unforgetful gracious, December lost, gracious, isles, this, distances Young Young December, distances, dedicate home, horizon these, horizon Pinnacle Pinnacle

Labiodental fricative Alveolar approximant Alveolar nasal Dental fricative Alveolar approximant Bilabial nasal Velar plosive Postalveolar fricative Alveolar fricative Palatal approximant Velar nasal Alveolar plosive Glottal fricative Alveolar fricative Bilabial plosive Velar plosive

4. In many (especially, but not only, urban) varieties of non-standard British English, the following pattern of distribution occurs for the voiceless plosives. pill [phɪl] h

till [t ɪl] h

kill [k ɪl]

spill [spɪl]

lip [lɪʔ]

still [stɪl]

lit [lɪʔ]

skill [skɪl]

lick [lɪʔ]

How can we describe the situation in word-final position phonologically? What symbol(s) might we choose to represent the unit(s) found here, and why? What would the most appropriate feature specification of the final unit of [lɪʔ] be? Answer: ▪ In word-final position, the usual three ways contrast of the voiceless stops is neutralised and all three are realised by the glottal stop. ▪ It would be appropriate to recognize an archiphoneme here by using symbol /P/, /T/ or /K/.

▪

lip [lɪʔ] , lit [lɪʔ] , lick [lɪʔ] contain three voiceless stop phonemes, those are /p/ , /t/ and /k/ that usually distinguished by their place of articulation. The most appropriate feature specification of the final unit of [lɪʔ] is the archiphoneme that would be specified as [–voice, –nasal, –continuant] but would have no value for [anterior] or [coronal].

5. a) Which of the following words contains a rounded vowel? put seek hook grew grey hoe hold Answer: put [pʊt], hook [hu:k], grew [gru:], hoe [hʊ], hold [hɒl] b) Which of the following words contains a front vowel? see seat meat tap throw tape through Answer: see [si:], seat [si:t], meat [mi:t], tap [tæp], tape [teip] c) Which of the following words contains a high vowel? see seat steak throw list lost through Answer: see [si:], seat [si:t], list [li:s], through [θru:] d) Which of the following words contains a central vowel? about put luck hit purse father kept Answer: about [əboʊt], luck [lʌk], purse [pɜːs], father [fæðɜː] (second syllable) e) Which of the following words contains a high back vowel? put love hit heat luck look food Answer: put [pʊt], look [lu:k], food [fu:t] 6. a) What do the vowels in these words have in common? bet hair rose post love purse mate Answer: All of them are mid vowels: bet [bet], hair [hær], rose [rowz], post [powst], love [lʌv], purse [pɜːs], mate [meɪt] b) What do the vowels in these words have in common? see leap weird pit fiend miss crypt Answer: All of them are high front vowels:

see [si:], leap [li:p], weird [wird], pit [pɪt], fiend [fɪənt], miss [mɪʃ], crypt [krɪp] c) What do the vowels in these words have in common? height boy try noise loud crowd fine Answer: All of them are diphthongs: height [haɪt], boy [bɔɪ], try [traɪ], noise [nɔɪs], loud [laʊt], crowd [kraʊt], fine [faɪn] d) What do the vowels in these words have in common? flea rude piece flu stew leave sees Answer: All of them are long, high vowels: flea [fli:], rude [ru:d], piece [pi:s], flu [flu:], stew [stu:], leave [li:f], sees [si:s] 7. Make vowel quadrilateral diagrams for all the diphthongs of SSBE, showing the position of the first and second elements and drawing lines and arrows connecting them. Answer: /aɪ/ , /aʊ/

i:

u: ɪ

ʊ ə

ɜː

ɛ

(ɒ)

ɔː

/eɪ/ , /oʊ/

ʌ a

ɑː

For /aɪ/ , /aʊ/ , the arrow will start at low central and move up to either high front, or high back. For /eɪ/ , /oʊ/ , the end points are the same but the start points are high-mid front and high-mid back respectively. Centring diphthongs will all end at schwa. 8. Give as detailed a description as you can of the vowels in the following words: father leaving hear thoroughly fast haste lookalike sausage ooze Answer: Words Detailed description father ɑ = long low back unrounded ə = short mid central unrounded leaving i: = long high front unrounded ɪ = short high front unrounded hear centring diphthong : short high front unrounded ɪə short mid central unrounded

thoroughly

fast haste

lookalike

sausage ooze

short low-mid central unrounded short mid central unrounded short high front unrounded ɑ = long low back unrounded diphthong: high-mid front unrounded

short high back unrounded diphthong: low central unrounded ə = short low-mid back rounded u: = long high back rounded

diphthong: high front unrounded or high-mid front unrounded monophthong short mid central unrounded diphthong: high front unrounded ə = short mid central rounded

9. Make phonemic transcriptions for the following words, for (a) SSBE, (b) GA, (c) SSN and (d) NZE. water grass righteousness holiday pilchard following northeast spoonful Answer: Words SSBE GA SSE NZE Water /wɔ:tə/ /wɔ:tər/ /wɒtər/ /wɔ:tə/ Grass /grɑːs/ /græs/ /gras/ /gra:s/ Righteousness /raɪtʃəsnɛs/ /raɪtʃəsnɛs/ /raɪtʃəsnɛs/ /raɪtʃəsnɛs/ Holiday /hɒlɪdeɪ/ /hɑːlɪdeɪ/ /hɒlɪde/ /hɒlədɛɪ/ Pilchard /pɪltʃɜd/ /pɪltʃɜrd/ /pɪltʃʌrd/ /pəltʃɜd/ Following /fɒloʊɪŋ/ /fɑloʊɪŋ/ /fɒloɪŋ/ /fɒləʊɪŋ/ Northeast /nɔ:θi:st/ /nɔrθi:st/ /nɒrθist/ /nɔ:θɪist/ Spoonful /spu:nfʊl/ /spu:nfʊl/ /spunfʊl/ /spəunfʊl/ 10. Write rules for the following processes: (a) Front rounded vowels become unrounded before velars (b) Vowels devoice before voiceless consonants (c) /i: u: ɪ ʊ/ become /e: o: ɛ ɒ/ after clusters of two consonants, the second of which is a nasal (d) /ɑː ɔ:/ become /u:/ before palatal consonants or at the beginnings of words Answer: +syllabic (a) [ +front ] +round

[−round]

−syllabic _____ [−anterior] −coronal

+syllabic (b) [−consonant] +sonorant

+syllabic (c) [ +high ] −mid

+syllabic −high (d) [ ] −mid +back

[−voice] _____ [−syllabic] −voice

[+mid] / [−syllabic] [

−syllabic ] +nasal

#_____

[

−syllabic +high ] /{ [−anterior] } +round ____ +coronal

11. Go back to the nursery rhyme or short poem you transcribed in the exercises to Chapter 5. Now, instead of using V for all vowels, transcribe the vowels using the reference accent (from SSBE, GA, SSE, and NZE) with which you are the most familiar, or which is closest to your own. Answer : Short poem To Friends at Home – R.I. Stevenson To friend at home, the lone, the admired, the lost The gracious old, the lovely young, to May The fair, December the beloved, These from my blue horizon and green isles, These from this pinnacle of distances I, The unforgetful, dedicate. Based on: Standard Southern British English (SSBE) [Tu:] [frɛənt] [ɛt] [hoʊm], [ðɛ] [loʊn], [ðɛ] [ɛtmaɛət], [ðɛ] [loʊs] [ðɛ] [graʒɪəs] [ɒl], [ðɛ] [lʌfli:] [jʌŋ], [tu:] [Meɪ] [ðɛ [fɛər], [Dɪʒəmbɛ] [ðɛ] [bɪlʌft], [ði:z] [frɒm] [maɪ] [blu:] [hɔ:ri:zɒn] [ɛn] [gri:n] [ɪsəls], [ði:z] [frɒm] [ðɪs] [phɪnəkəl] [ɒf] [dɪstənsɪs] [aɪ], [ðɛ] [ɑnfɒgətfʊl], [dədɪkɛəɪt].

12. Make a list of the standard lexical sets, and write down which vowel phoneme you have in each of the twenty-seven cases. Which vowel symbols have you chosen to symbolise each phoneme, and why? Answer: STANDARD LEXICAL SETS Set Standard Southern General Standard New Zealand Number British English American (GA) Scottish English English (NZE) (SSBE) (SSE) 1 ɪ ɪ ɪ ə 2 ɛ ɛ ɛ e 3 a Æ a ɛ 4 ɒ ɑː ɒ ɒ 5 ʌ ʌ ʌ ʌ 6 ʊ ʊ u ʊ 7 ɑː Æ a a: 8 ɒ ɔː ɒ ɒ 9 ɜː ɜ ʌr ɜː 10 i: i: i ɪi 11 eɪ eɪ e ɛɪ 12 ɑː ɑː a a: 13 ɔː ɔː ɒ ɔː 14 oʊ o: o əu 15 u: u: u iu: 16 aɪ aɪ ʌɪ aɪ 17 ɔɪ ɔɪ ɔɪ ɔɪ 18 aʊ aʊ ʌʊ aʊ 19 ɪə Ir ir ɪə 20 ɛə eɪr er eə 21 ɑː ɑr ar a: 22 ɔ: ɔr ɒr ɔː 23 ɔ: Or or ɔ: 24 uə Ur ur uə 25 ɪ I i i 26 ə ər ər ə 27 ə ə ʌ ə

13. A learner of English as a second language has the following pronounciations (note that [ ʃ ] is the symbol for the first sound in ship and [ð] for the first sound in the): that [dat]

dog [dɒg]

head [hɛð]

leather [lɛðə]

leader [li:ðə]

sing [ʃɪŋ]

sat [sat]

loss [lɒs]

fish [fɪʃ]

miss [mɪʃ]

push [pus]

How might you explain these non-native pronounciations? How do you think this learner would pronounce the bold-faced consonants in Daddy, either, loathe, ship, pass, dish, usher? Answer: Explaining these pronounciations involves two steps: first, figure out what the relevant environments are; and second, try to work out why the learner is producing these environments. In terms of environments, [d] appears word-initially and word-finally, and [ð] medially, between vowels; [ʃ] appears before or after an [ɪ] vowel, and [s] next to other vowels. It can hypothesise that [d] and [ð] are allophones of a single phoneme, and likewise

[ʃ] and [s] are allophones of a single phoneme with a distribution like the one learner imposes in English. Predicted pronounciation would be : Daddy [dæði]; either [ð]; loathe [d]; ship [ʃ]; pass [s]; dish [ʃ]; usher [s]. 14. Do the following sounds contrast in English? Find minimal pairs to support your hypothesis, ideally for initial, medial and final position in the word. Where minimal pairs for all positions do not seem to be available, write a short statement of where the sound in question can and cannot be found.

[m n ŋ p b t d k g l r] Answer: It won’t find the cases of initial [ŋ], final [h], or for some speaker at least, final [r]. 15. The Ministry for Education in a certain country whose language has up to now been unwritten has hired two foreign linguists to produce an orthography. Linguist A and B have suggested two rather different systems. Which one is the most in line with the phonological structure of the language it is designed for? Why do you think the other linguist may have made different decisions? Linguist A bim bin biŋ zag zib azaŋ obaz ham mohiz zigah gig

Linguist B bim bin bing zak zip azang obas ham mohis ziga gik

Pronounciation [bim] [bin] [biŋ] [zak] [zip] [azaŋ] [obas] [ham] [mohis] [zigah] [gip]

Meaning ‘ring’ ‘head’ ‘wheel’ ‘parrot’ ‘ostrich’ ‘to speak’ ‘to throw’ ‘egg’ ‘to eat’ ‘to sing’ ‘ant’

gah nagog habiz

ga nagok habis

[gah] [nagok] [habis]

‘a song’ ‘to sting’ ‘to drink’

Answer: The main point is that some pairs of sounds are in complementary distribution in this language: notably, voiced and voiceless pairs of sounds ([g] – [k] , [b] – [p] , [z] – [s]) do not contrast since the voiced one appears initially and medially, and the voiceless one finally. Linguist A has noticed this and uses a single symbol for each pair; Linguist B uses different graphs. Linguist A also uses a single symbol for [ŋ] , which is a single consonant in this language and represents [h] with each time it is pronounced. Linguist B uses for [ŋ] , making it look like two consonants and has no symbol for [h] word-finally. In short, A is using a system designed for this particular language; B is following English patterns and is probably a native speaker of English.

16. (a) Which of the following words begin with a voiceless fricative? hang dogs cut ship chip foot zip sit (b) Which of the following words begin with a voiced sound? nap

jug

knock

lot

pet

jump fin

(c) Which of the following words end with a stop sound? nap

hang

jug

nudge bet lamb lots

(d) Which of the following words end with an alveolar sound? pot sad

boss lamb lamp size hen call

(e) Which of the following words contain an approximant consonant? wash hall

map

sing

sigh red yellow

17. a) What do the initial consonants of these words have in common? wash

let

right

yet

wish

rough

Answer: All of them are approximant consonants b) What do the final consonants of these words have in common? hop

hot

pass

wish

rough lock scratch

Answer: All of them are voiceless c) What do the initial consonants of these words have in common? fish

ship

zip

sigh

house view

Answer: All of them are fricatives

18. How do the consonants at the end of the words in List A differ from those at the end of the words in List B? (a) List A ham sin sing

List B top lock rot

If you say [sɪŋg], ignore the final [g] for this exercise. (b) place lose half

lake beg dot

(c) dogs hall film cold

rough cats catch help

Answer: a. A: nasal and voiced b. A: fricatives c. A: voiced

B: oral and voiceless B: plosives B: voiceless

19. Transcribe the words below. Then write as full a description as you can of all the consonants in each word, in your accent. For instance, in doze [d] is a pulmonic egressive central voiced alveolar stop; [z] is a pulmonic egressive central voiced alveolar fricative. Remember to pay attention to the sounds, and not to the spelling. psalm

jester

which

climb

heavy

splint

loch

bought

squelch

Answer: [sɑːm] : voiceless alveolar fricative; voiced bilab...